Extending Wansbeck Road

At long last the work to put the long promised extension on Wansbeck Road has begun.

As you will see from the pictures the small nine inch section at the bufferstops by the station building has come off. This why it was built in the first place, so that I could easily remove it and extend the layout and facilitate through running. That was always going to involve a second 'train table' since for logistic reasons I didn't fancy a tail chaser of any sort.

The first picture shows the bufferstops end as it has been for some considerable time now. I have planned for some time to alter the course of the roadway and drop it down beneath the railway to add extra interest. In addition I wanted to expand the road vehicle theme and include a bus depot near the scenic break. Well, space is always at a premium and I thought I was going to have a little more than I have so some rationalisation of the plan has occurred. The road is still projected to go beneath the railway but planning permission for the 'bus depot' has been refused....! As I write this I am not yet happy with the gradient the bus has to climb and some 'levelling' may be necessary. On the subject of Faller buses I was contemplating purchase of another vehicle but since I bought the last one the cost has risen by £35 and is increased from £62 (which I thought was a bit on the high side even then) to between £94 and over £109. That's some percentage hike. Back to scratchbuilding and maybe a different form of propulsion.

The second picture shows the new baseboard in place during construction. The gradient can clearly be seen.

The last picture is...............possibly the shape of things to come? No. Not at all; it's just me building up my stud for the diesel period layout.

Mick S

Easitrac Turnout

A few days ago I promised a posting on the progress I've been making with assembling an Easitrac turnout. Tonight I made quite a bit of progress on it, so it seems a good time to show you what I've been up to.

The photo above shows progress after the first evening. The straight stock rail is in place, and the crossing assembly has been soldered-up (using the assembly jig on the right). This is a left hand B7 turnout, and is build using a C&L template. The turnout timber positions don't match the milled base exactly, but are close enough for my purposes.

Another couple of hours work tonight brings the story up to date. I've yet to make the turnout blades, and will probably build a jig to make filing these easier, particularly as I need several more turnouts of this type. There are also more chairs to add to the left-hand end of the stock rails. The crossing nose needs a slight adjustment with a file as my first trials with a wagon showed that one of the flangeways is a bit on the tight side.

I'm sure subsequent turnouts will be quicker and easier to make - this is my first 2mm turnout and it's been a bit of a learning curve at times.

Andy

In the Distant

North East Area Group meeting information.

Saturday 13th June 2009 Saint Barnabas Church Hall Bournmoor. Time - Please Note 2.00pm – 5.00pm. (approx.)

During the past two weeks the model railway world has lost two larger then life characters. First is a nationally renowned figure, Cyril Freezer, arguably one of the better known names in the hobby and responsible for inspiring many with his seemingly endless plans published in those little Peco paperback books.

Our very own Phil Kerr also passed away last week. Phil was a long standing 2mm Scale Association member, Hon Vice President , former Products Officer, and member of the Midland Area Group that toured with the layout Helsby Tumil and Haddon. Phil could be described as one of the ‘old guard’ and many of the castings and kits you might put together now owe their existence to his efforts as a toolmaker making the masters for them. Indeed if you have bought electro magnets from our shops you will know they’re referred to as PK magnets which needs no further explanation.

Both men were octogenarians and had suffered at the hands of ill health in recent times. Our thoughts are with their respective families as they depart this world.

For our next gathering we are staying with the subject of layout planning with Tony Simms giving us his inner thoughts on his Golden Jubilee Layout Challenge entry, Brafferton. He will be bringing along some of the baseboards and discussing/demonstrating what his thoughts were at the various planning stages. Tony does post his progress on the NE blog but it will be nice to see it in the flesh and have an hour or so with him as he guides us through how his GJLC layout has taken shape.
I hope to see as many of you on the day.

Mick S

On the Fiddle (Yard)

No - nothing to do with MPs and their expenses!

The photo shows progress on one of the fiddle yards for my GJLC entry. This is my second attempt at this - the first (using foamcore board) wasn't good enough, so having seen David Mallot's design for Kylestrome, I redesigned and rebuilt the boards using plywood (thanks for the inspiration, David).

As you can see from the photo, most of the track is now laid. The next job is to make some sliding brass catches to accurately locate each track (and transfer the power to each track). I'll be using my Proxxon milling machine to make these.

You can also see part of one of the main boards for the layout - these need some more work, notably adding the trackbed (supported on short riser blocks) and some bracing.

I've also started on the Easitrac turnouts required for the scenic part of the layout - these will be featured shortly in a separate update.

Andy

Posing the 04

As well as model railways, one of my other keen interests is photography. However, I've never really mastered the art of taking good model shots. Maybe I'm in too much of a rush, maybe I don't get the lighting just right... most of the pictures I take for this blog are purely for the purpose of recording progress (or lack thereof) rather than as a picture in its own right.

Having nearly finished the 04 (wheels back from Gordon at the end of last week), I thought I'd try and take some more worthy snaps; here are my initial attempts. The first thing that struck me is how obvious some of the original colours are showing through on roof edges, grab handles and coupling rods. To be fair these are substantially less apparent on the actual model (thank goodness!). I'm quite pleased with the actual photos; I think my technique is improving. These images posted here are about 25% of the resolution of the original shots; imagine how scary they look!

The model now awaits DCC chipping; I think I'll get one of the Zimo chips which should be small enough to go in the cab area.

Brafferton Update 25: Coaching Stock

The improvements in ready to run  N Gauge stock has been phenomenal in recent years. First Farish moved their production to China following the buyout by Bachmann and then Dapol came onto the scene. The overall bar continues to rise. Those modelling post-grouping era will more than likely find some RTR stock to satisfy their requirements and on the whole the work required on it tends to be minimal.

Of course, wheels must be changed to conform to 2FS standards. Mick has covered the reprofiling of the Farish and Dapol wheels, but as I mentioned before, I had lost the wheels from some of my Farish coaches. They have been running on 6mm disc wheels with 15mm axles, though today I received from Shop 2 a nice parcel. The 7mm disc wheels on 15.2mm axles are designed to fit the new Farish bogies and I must say they run rather well. Additionally, for me, they are visually far superior to the original wheels (even though they are a giant leap over what was available a few years ago). You decide for yourselves:

Apologies for the clunking great N couplings still in evidence! They will go. And soon!

Brafferton Update 24a: Still Baseboards!

After I'd posted my last missive, I realised I'd not photographed the interesting bit! So here it is:

Now; back to the modelling desk!